9/7/25 Update:

I wanted to share a brief update for any new visitors and contributors to this fundraiser of which I am so blessed to receive. A total of 13 of my herd members have passed from the toxic plant poisoning of my herd on our August grazing job. I mostly work by myself and dealing with the deaths on my own turned me inside out. 

I began this fundraiser to reach out for help with my hay, vet, and recovery time costs for my herd while we healed taking a brake from fulfilling contracted jobs. Each donation has brought tears to my eyes. It’s all very personal.  I love you guys! Thank you! 

A little about me and the animals; I love what I do deeply and my herd has become my family. The herd is now around 100 of both goats and sheep who graze with me as their shepherd in a grand effort to fulfill a very niche business strategically reducing vegetation for conservation and fire safety. We are protected by two heroic livestock guardian dogs. My herd began as 2 sweet goats, a mama and baby, almost 10 years ago. Since then I’ve nurtured small ruminants daily 365. We have fulfilled year round grazing contracts for 3 years now. Most of my herd has been born with me and I experience them as my family and business partners. I deeply love my life with them. This life requires a lot of grit. It’s incredibly primitive, dirty, exhausting, heartbreaking, and strategically challenging. It’s also profoundly rewarding and poetic. Believe it or not I am with them every day all day. At night I listen for any unusual sounds and I wake up to them every single morning. I know most of their voices and know everyone’s family tree by heart. 

If you feel moved to continue to contribute I welcome donations to help us purchase some major equipment that we need. My big hauling truck needs a flatbed for hauling more efficiently which is around $8,000. We need what is called a portayard which is a rigid panel system for loading, unloading, sorting, and roundpen training. The portayard is $12,000. I desperately need a new camper and have my eye on a 16’ Scamp which is about $25,000. I hope to have custom bells made in Sardinia this winter tuned to the F# major cord. The bells will cost $800.  We also need a quad for fencing big jobs. I haven’t researched the quad yet and if you would like to help me with acquiring the quad I will do some research on a fire safe model. 

With the donations that have already come in we have bought over $3,000 of hay, $1,500 of supplements, new floor mats for our trailers, new barings for one trailer, my sheep Florence who needs back leg wheels got a new larger set of wheels that fit her better, we are stocked up on dog food, dog bones, grain, alfalfa pellets, trailer repairs made to trailer doors, the hauling truck payments are payed almost to the end of the year, the vets are payed, fall sheering is payed, and I’ve been able to feel a sense of relief and support. There’s nothing like this feeling. The feeling of having what I need to care for my sweet animal crew is the greatest. Thank you!!!! 

Original Fundraiser Message: 

My herd is recovering from loosing 9 members to an unknown toxic plant on our grazing site and needing some financial support to get through this tragedy.

The identified toxic plant snakeroot was not in my awareness nor my veterinarian's awareness as being one to kill small ruminants. My veterinarian said the toxicity could be due to particular weather conditions and or site specific hybridization.

It has been recommended to keep my herd calm and in one location for 3 weeks in a calm quarantine for their bodies to recover from the toxic load. Transporting the herd could be too stressful on some of the herd members who are struggling.

I don’t like asking for help but I really do need it to get through this. This is incredibly expensive for me as my herd requires 4 bales of hay each day is we are not on pasture. That’s $100 per day. I am needing help with hay costs and supplements. If you would like to buy us a bale or two of hay while we recover I’d greatly appreciate it. Bales are generally $25 each.

A little about me….

I’m a shepherd of goats and sheep. Im a single woman who has built a contract grazing herd over almost a decade. My herd is my family and I provide year round conservation grazing and fire fuel grazing for my clients. My herd and service gives my purpose in life. You can get to know us more online at www.lostemufarms.com and www.scapegoatgrazing.com or on Instagram @lostemufarms

Sending my deepest gratitude.